July 21, 2010

EU sets new dairy imports rules

The European Commission has published a new regulation covering health and certification conditions for the introduction of dairy products into the EU.

Regulation No 605/2010, published in the EU Official Journal, replaces the Commission Decision 2004/438/EC, which was adopted in April 2004.

The new regulation comes into force on August 1, although to avoid trade disruption the Commission said the use of health certificates issued in accordance with Decision 2004/438/EC should be authorised for a transitional period until November 30.

Areas covered by the regulation include treatment conditions, health certificates as well as transit and storage conditions.

It lays down specific conditions for the heat treatment of imported products, giving different requirements for different countries. A stricter set of sterilisation requirements is set out, for example, for countries at risk of foot-and-mouth disease.

A full list is provided in the annex of the countries that are permitted to export to the EU, and each is classified into three categories to establish the heat treatment requirements.

The new Regulation covers not only imported dairy products but also those that are passing through the EU on their way to another destination. Specific transit and storage conditions are laid out for such consignments.